


far from the here and now

by princ3ssf33t



Series: Obitine Week 2020 [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin and Korkie are basically just glorified cameos, F/M, Force Visions, Gen, Korkie is a Kenobi, Late Night Conversations, ObiTine Week 2020, Post-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Theme: Past/Future, it's only implied tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24938686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princ3ssf33t/pseuds/princ3ssf33t
Summary: Of all the lofted abilities the Jedi had the potential to obtain, being granted visions of the past, present, and future was one that cursed its bearer even as it blessed them. Luckily, the ability to channel visions was not one of the gifts from the Force that Obi-Wan possessed.Which did not explain why he was face-down on the floor, panting as he attempted to make sense of the scene that had ravaged his mind.
Relationships: Korkie Kryze & Satine Kryze, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze
Series: Obitine Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799788
Comments: 4
Kudos: 104





	far from the here and now

Of all the lofted abilities the Jedi had the potential to obtain, being granted visions of the past, present, and future was one that cursed its bearer even as it blessed them. Luckily, the ability to channel visions was not one of the gifts from the Force that Obi-Wan possessed. 

Which did not explain why he was face-down on the floor, panting as he attempted to make sense of the scene that had ravaged his mind. 

Slowly, Obi-Wan rolled onto his back and pulled himself into a sitting position against the platform he had been meditating upon. The metal felt cool against his sweaty back, and the hard edge of the makeshift bed dug into his neck. It wasn’t much more than an inconvenience, but it grounded him in the present enough to allow him to attempt to analyze what he had been shown in the vision. 

It had been Satine Kryze he’d seen in his vision. The Duchess of Mandalore. Whom he hadn’t seen in over five years. 

He wasn’t sure if the pounding of his heart was due to the fact that he had seen the Duchess screaming out in pain, or the sudden realization that he would do almost anything to keep her from experiencing that. 

Obi-Wan reached up to tug on the padawan braid that wasn’t there anymore, before he remembered and pressed his fist to his mouth instead. He attempted to regulate his breathing, and double-checked the shields he had set up between him and Anakin. They were still holding as strong as they had been before he started his meditation, so the likelihood the boy had seen anything while Obi-Wan was in his trance was low. 

He didn’t want Anakin to unconsciously sense anything else that Obi-Wan considered private while he slept. It was hard enough to get the boy to go back to sleep in his own bed after the boy had a nightmare that coincided with Obi-Wan’s regarding what happened in the reactor during the battle on Naboo. And Obi-Wan wasn’t ready to explain what was happening in some of his  _ other  _ memories. 

Especially the ones regarding a certain Duchess. 

A groan threatened to escape him at the remembrance of those memories, and Obi-Wan forced himself to stand and walk across the small apartment to the sink. He was tempted to dunk his head under the running water and stand there until he had washed away everything, but opted instead to grab a glass of water and drink it instead. 

He downed half of it without taking a breath, and set the glass on the small counter with a small thud. He stared at his reflection in the window, had the presence of mind to tell himself that he looked like poodoo, before he turned his attention to the vision of Satine he’d had. 

The Duchess had been in a hospital bed. It wasn’t like the medical cots that he could find in the Jedi Temple, cold, bare, and impersonal, but there was a different feel that he couldn’t quite recognize about it. There had been gentle colors around her washed out face, and there were no hard lines around her. Everything seemed soft. Even the droids that hovered at the side of her bed lacked the edges most others had. 

But despite the calming environment around her, the Duchess had not been calm. Hair was plastered against her neck and forehead with sweat, and her pale face was paler than he’d ever seen it except where bright patches of red appeared on her cheeks and down her neck. Her breathing had been heavy in between the screams she gave. 

Force, those screams. They echoed in his head, bouncing off the walls of his skull until they were almost the only thing he could focus on. If his resilience had been any lighter, he would have found himself drowned in those sounds, and unable to restrain himself from acting rashly. Fortunately, for him, he was resilient, and was able to continue on with his evaluation of the vision. 

Once Satine’s cries had reached a crescendo, another sound filtered through the vision that rivaled hers. And suddenly, whatever had been causing Satine such pain seemed to have stopped. Her chest heaved in the aftermath of what had happened just outside of his view of the vision, but Obi-Wan had been unable to draw his eyes away from her face. 

She was exhausted from whatever had happened, it was in her eyes as clear as day, but there was something else too. Obi-Wan’s instinct was to reach out with the Force to get insight as to what that was, but with everything he’d been seeing being only a vision, there was nothing to reach out too. If he had to assign a feeling to the look she was giving, he would have to go with hope. 

Then she lifted her arms from her side. They trembled. When Satine spoke, her voice was muffled in a way that her screams had not been. 

“ _ Bring him here. Let me hold him _ ,” she said. Her voice was rough and scratchy from all the screaming. 

Obi-Wan had watched as a droid that had been hidden from his vision appeared from the mist and handed the Duchess a bundle. Satine clutched it tight to her chest and cooed at it. 

It had taken longer than Obi-Wan wanted to admit for him to realize that she was holding a baby. That she had just given birth to a son. Her heir. 

Obi-Wan could feel the way his heart stuttered at the thought of Satine with a family. Not because he didn’t want her to have one. He did. She had lived through war and the murder of her family. It was only right that she build back what the universe had so cruelly taken from her. 

But there was a part of him, a long suppressed part, a part he refused to acknowledge in any way, that wanted it to be him that gave her the connection and family that had been ripped from her. 

Obi-Wan quickly downed the rest of the water that was in his glass and leaned heavily against the sink. What was the point the Force was attempting to tell him? It was sometimes hard to tell if visions were of the future, the past, or happening concurrently to the one experiencing the vision and this one, well, Obi-Wan didn’t want to think too hard about what it might mean. 

Still, the sight of Satine holding a youngling, a sight he hadn’t been aware was something he wanted to see, had set a fire inside him. Without thinking, he raced back to his bed and the small shelf that held his worldly possessions he kept. He wrapped his hand around an old holoprojector, free of dust, just like all his other items, and stared at it. 

Could he do it? She had told him that she would be willing to talk if he needed it. Whenever he needed it. But there had never been a time for him to take her up on that offer. Or he’d been too cowardly to actually key it on. 

But Qui-Gon’s death was still fresh in his mind, and he’d been left in charge of the training and education of a nine year old former slave boy sleeping in the next room. To add this vision on top of all of that, Obi-Wan allowed himself a moment’s weakness and pressed the button to make the call. 

She answered almost immediately. 

“ _Obi_ ,” she said. Her voice was laced with concern. But it was as smooth as he remembered her voice being while they were on the run. Her face was the proper shade of pale, and her hair was perfectly  arranged without the elaborate headpiece. 

_ So it wasn’t a concurrent vision _ , he thought to himself. 

“ _ Obi-Wan? Are you listening to a word I said? _ ” Satine asked. Her voice got a hint of the bite it always did before they argued. 

“My apologies, Duchess,” he said, bowing his head. “I did not mean to disturb you.” 

She watched him quietly for a moment. Then the mask of impersonality broke, and her hologram wavered for a moment as if she reached out to touch him. They both knew that she wouldn’t be able too, but Obi-Wan appreciated the sentiment. 

“ _ I heard about what happened with Master Qui-Gon, _ ” she said finally. “ _ I’m so sorry, Ben. How are you handling it? I know he was like a father to you _ .” 

A sound Obi-Wan didn’t recognize left his throat, and he dropped down on his bed. The hand that wasn’t holding the holoprojector scrubbed his face. He hadn’t shaved in days, and the stubble was reaching the point where he needed to decide if he was going to commit to wearing a beard, or if he was going to bulk up his courage and shave again. He left his hand over his eyes for a few seconds longer than normal. Anything to keep from seeing the concerned look on his friend’s (was that what they were now?) face. 

Obi-Wan wondered what he could tell her that wouldn’t immediately be picked out as a lie. He couldn’t say he was fine, because he wasn’t. He could say that it was the will of the Force, but she would only see it as deflecting from the grief he felt. Which was true, so he didn’t say it. 

“I have a padawan.” The sentence escaped from his mouth before he could stop it. 

Satine blinked in surprise. “ _ Oh? I thought you were just knighted? _ ” 

“I was.” Now that the words were out there, they flowed faster from his tongue and Obi-Wan couldn’t stop them. Not that he really wanted to stop them. “It was Master Jinn’s final wish. He found this boy, and he wanted me to train him because otherwise the Jedi Council wouldn’t. I gave him my word, and I have no idea what I’m doing with a youngling.” 

There was a silence on Satine’s end for a moment. When she spoke up again, she was unable to keep her voice from breaking. 

“ _ Really? _ ” Her gaze turned to something only visible on her end, before it returned to Obi-Wan. 

Obi-Wan’s forehead creased as he took in the change of her demeanor, but said nothing about it. He in turn, turned to look toward the door that separated the main part of the apartment where he slept from the bedroom Anakin was currently sleeping in. He hoped the boy would continue to sleep for the rest of this conversation. 

“He was a slave on Tatooine,” he explained. “Master Jinn freed him with the intent to train him, but I don’t think he understood what he was promising the boy.”

Obi-Wan was consciously aware that he should strive to keep his voice from getting too loud, the very boy he was speaking about was sleeping on the other side of the wall, but it was difficult to regulate when his frustrations finally let out. 

“We’ve spent the past few days in and out of the medical wing alone. He’s had none of the boosters he should have had by now to protect him from the diseases of the greater galaxy. It’ll be weeks before we will be able to leave the security of the Temple, let alone leave the planet. And I can already tell that he’s going to raise hell for everyone here. He’s already torn apart the caf maker in the cafeteria, much to the dismay of the Council, because he was bored.”

He stood up and walked over to the window that looked out over the Coruscanti skyline. Speeders and swoops flew past at blinding speeds, illuminated by the setting sun. Satine’s lip quirked but she said nothing. 

“And Anakin, as mechanically and technically brilliant as he is, can’t even read. He’s fluent in Basic and Huttese, knows more vulgar swear words than a Mandalorian, but is unable to write anything more than his name.” Obi-Wan’s voice caught in his throat, but he swallowed and pushed past it. “He’s so eager to learn, but can barely focus long enough for me to finish explaining what to do.” 

Obi-Wan fell silent. He gave a glance back to the door that separated him from his charge. He took a deep breath and attempted to funnel his frustrations into the Force. 

“ _ A history as a slave is not something he’ll be able to overcome overnight, Obi-Wan, _ ” Satine said into the silence. “ _ But his future is bright with you as his teacher. You’ve always been good with younglings _ .”

Obi-Wan did not attempt to keep his snort from escaping. 

Satine frowned. “ _ I’m serious, Obi-Wan. You’re patient and kind. You care deeply for everyone, young and old alike. It’s a part of what makes you such a wonderful Jedi _ .”

She paused for a moment before adding, “y _ ou remind me of my father in that way. _ ” 

The word ‘father’ froze Obi-Wan. Although the vision had been the reason prompting his call across the galaxy, he’d forgotten about it nearly as soon as Satine started speaking. His face flushed as the image of Satine and an unknown male cradled the infant from his vision. He hoped the blue of the holoprojection wouldn’t show her just how flushed he was. 

“Do you think I would be a good father Satine?” He asked. 

Satine blinked as her mouth opened slightly. Obi-Wan himself mouthed the words that had just escaped from him, unable to believe that he had been able to let such a blatant disregard of the Jedi Code come from his mouth. He was about to tell her to ignore what he said when she answered the question he hadn’t even intended to ask. 

“ _ I think you would be an excellent father. _ ” Her voice came in as barely a whisper. 

He looked down at the small projection in his hands, and held Satine’s gaze. Her tongue slipped out of her mouth to wet her lips as her mouth opened and closed. He could feel her getting ready to ask the question; and he hoped that she would say the word this time. 

“ _ Ben, I— _ ”

“ _ Auntie! Have you seen my tooka? _ ” Cried a small voice from the holoprojector. 

Satine winced at the loud interruption on her end. But it was quickly overrun by a brilliant smile directed at someone behind her projector. When she spoke, Obi-Wan recognized the tone as one she took whenever she dealt with children. 

“ _ Have you checked behind the parlor sofa? _ ” She asked. 

“ _ Yes! _ ” The voice answered back. Obi-Wan determined that it was a boy’s voice. 

“ _ Check again, my dear. I’m sure you’ll find it. _ ” There was a small chuckle in her voice as she answered her nephew. She continued to look past the holoprojector at whoever had interrupted her. 

There was a moment’s silence before the boy’s voice filtered in again, quieter this time due to the distance away from the recorder, but Obi-Wan could still hear his words clearly. 

“ _ There you are, Mr. Andreus. Thanks Auntie!! _ ” 

The silence that followed was more awkward than any other silence Obi-Wan could recall sharing with Satine in the many years he’d known her. He cleared his throat to break it. And to force his vocal cords to remember how to work again. 

“Who-?” 

“ _ My brother’s _ ,” Satine interrupted. “ _ I found out about him not long after I returned to the throne. I’m doing my best to raise him without his father and mother, but _ …”

She trailed off, her gaze following the path her nephew had left her with, a bittersweet expression on her face. 

“I’m sure you’re doing a remarkable job,” Obi-Wan said. “It sounds like you’ve got everything handled.” 

Satine rolled her eyes. “ _ He loses that tooka of his at least twice a week. It always ends up in the same spot; it isn’t hard to guess where it ended up _ .” 

Another silence fell between them. Obi-Wan spent it memorizing everything he could see regarding Satine’s appearance. She really was just as lovely as she had been when he left her side all those years ago. 

“Satine,” he began. 

“Master Kenobi?” 

Obi-Wan turned to see Anakin standing just outside his bedroom door, rubbing his eyes. 

“What can I do for you?” Obi-Wan asked, once again checking the shields he had set up between him and the boy. 

“Nightmare. Accident.” Was the only thing the young boy said. 

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and focused on his breathing for a few seconds before opening them and turning to Satine’s holo-image. Already she knew what he was about to say and had the small smug smile he knew. 

“I’ve got to go,” he said. 

Her smile grew wider. She gave him a small nod of the head, but didn’t say anything before the call was terminated. Obi-Wan pushed aside the regret he felt for having to cut the call short, and turned to address his padawan. He stood and walked toward the sleepy boy with a gentle smile on his face. 

“Alright, Anakin. Let’s see what I can do to help.” 


End file.
